By Joseph Fons

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 10, 2014 —  A luncheon commemorating the sculpture, Arch in Flight, was held today at the Federal Reserve building on Constitution Ave.

The work, created by renowned wood sculptor, Emilie Brzezinski, is located at the entrance to the Federal Reserve building on New York Ave. It is on loan to the Federal Reserve System for the next two years and is highly visible by the public because of its central location and proximity to the White House.

“Art is the measure of civilization; just as is good banking,” Brzezinski said in her speech thanking some of the most influential individuals in the Washington, D.C. arts scene. “I started showing here many years ago at the Corcoran, but I am so happy to now have a piece in this area again.”

Arch in Flight, initially a work composed of cherry wood completed by Brzezinski in 1989, now rests in bronze.  Standing at 14 feet in height, the work brings to mind a larger than life representation of the mathematical symbol for pi. Closer examination of the piece, however, reveals the detailed and distinctive markings that Brzezinski left in the cherry wood using her axe, chisel, and chainsaw so many years ago.

Arch in Flight is not the only sculpture of Brzezinski’s currently on display in Washington. A large-scale exhibit featuring 16 of Brzezinski’s wood sculptures is on display in northwest Washington’s Kreeger Museum. The exhibit, which recently received positive review from Washington Post art critic Peter Kennicott, will run through December 27, 2014.

For more information about Brzezinski and to see all of the works spanning her 30+ year sculpting career, The Lure of the Forest: Sculpture 1979-2013, a monograph cataloging her entire oeuvre, is now available for purchase.